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hardcover books

Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb (SF/Crime Novel, September 2018). The seemingly endless “In Death” series blends multiple genres (crime/mystery, near-future SF, and erotic romance) to very entertaining effect. It’s set roughly 40 years in the future, in New York City and features redoubtable New York Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas, her super-rich businessman husband (and roguish onetime […]

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer (Native American History, 2019). This book is Treuer’s response to the shortsighted and ultimately dead-wrong notion that the horrific 1890 massacre (or “battle”) of Wounded Knee was somehow the last word on the subject of the Native Americans. Back then, centuries of disease, war and dispossession had indeed […]

My two most recent publications should be of interest to horror fans–and especially those fascinated by the many ways great authors have portrayed that durable class of monsters–the ZOMBIES! Many of you may know that for the past several months, I’ve been doing a whole series of book reviews on outstanding zombie novels for another […]

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (Fantasy Novel, 2001). Phedre is a young woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. In her culture, this (known as Kushiel’s Dart) signals that she is destined to be a special sort of Sacred Prostitute. But the nobleman who takes her in as an indentured servant has other plans […]

Murder in Bloomsbury by D.M. Quincy (Historical Mystery Novel, February 2018). An award-winning journalist, D.M. Quincy turned to fictional crime successfully with Murder in Mayfair, a historical mystery set in early 19th century England. That introduced readers to Atlas Catesby, an aristocratic world traveler turned amateur detective. Here, Catesby and those around him return to get involved […]

Blood Communion by Anne Rice. (Vampire Novel, 2018). Okay, here’s another installment of another long-running book series–the fifteenth novel in Rice’s famous Vampire Chronicles. As is so often the case, Lestat, the recently crowned Prince of the Vampires, narrates yet another epic undead adventure. Following hard on the heels of the game-changing Prince Lestat and the Realms […]

War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Novel, 2018). By my count this is the eleventh novel in Cornwell’s sprawling Saxon Tales series. As usual, the main character, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, narrates the book with a keen eye and ever-growing self-awareness. And yet, as ever, he remains dedicated to the cultural imperative central to his […]